"As he still wrestles with the pain of almost losing his entire family in a horrible car accident last March, Grand Haven's Camden Bertucci vows he will come back stronger on the mat next year!"
ROCKFORD, MI – Camden Bertucci has suffered a lot of heartache in the last 11 months.
So when the Grand Haven junior, who is a two-time all state wrestler, was knocked out at regionals Saturday at Rockford High School, he smiled and took it like a man.
After suffering a serious injury and almost losing his entire family to a serious car accident last March, losing in the sport he loves has taken on a different perspective in his life.
“It's been a struggle getting back to being Camden, just being who I was as a person,” Bertucci said. “I've really had to focus on who I was as a person before the accident, and learning how to cope with it since.”
Camden, his father Jeff, and mother Sheri, were visiting his older brother Colin last March at Cornell College in Iowa when the accident took place.
Colin Bertucci was a sophomore wrestler on the Cornell wrestling team.
“We were visiting Colin at Cornell, and one night after dinner going back to the dorm we had the accident,” Jeff Bertucci said. “Our whole family was hurt. We also had one girl that lost her life, and the gentleman driving the other car lost his life.”
The other gentleman was Wilbur Bigley, who lost control of his car on Highway 1 near Solon, Iowa and crossed the center line. There is where Jeff Bertucci broadsided Mr. Bigley's car in the Buick Rendezvous the Bertucci family was in.
Colin's girlfriend, Madison “Addie” Hubert, also lost her life in the accident, while all of the Bertucci's suffered serious injuries.
“My wife has had multiple surgeries now, and she has another surgery coming up in March to fix her hand,” Jeff Bertucci said. “Camden flew from the third row to the windshield and dislocated his shoulder. He is dealing more with the emotional flashbacks from the accident, and still has them. Colin is all healed up, but he had heart surgery back in August, where they replaced his Ascending Aorta, and he is back in school, leading a normal life. He is not wrestling anymore, but back to normal.”
Camden Bertucci says it's been a struggle dealing with that March 23rd night.
“It's really affected me,” he said. “It didn't really affect me up until my brother's heart surgery (in August), where I started getting flashbacks back to the accident. That was right before my birthday in August, and it was a hard struggle.”
As a freshman, Camden Bertucci took second in the state at 103 pounds. And last year he was third at 112.
He should have had a clear head to focus on winning that elusive state championship and helping his Grand Haven team get to the team state finals.
But he hasn't had a clear head, and his father has seen that this wrestling season.
“Coming into this season, Camden felt a lot of pressure,” Jeff Bertucci said. “He puts that on himself to perform well, and he expects a lot out of himself. He's just struggled a lot this year with self confidence. I don't know why, but he has. The accident may have had some effect on him. How much?, I don't know.”
He still carried a 29-4 record into Saturday's regional at Rockford. But wrestling in what many were saying the toughest weight class at the toughest regional in the state in all divisions, the pressure, and the memories, may have been too much to overcome.
After winning his first match, a 7-2 win over Grand Ledge's Jay Jay Brickley, he fell to eventual regional champion Martin Rodriguez 12-7, and was pinned by Brighton's Jackson Renicker in the 'Blood Round' in three minutes, 57 seconds.
“It just happens – if you lose, you lose, and it just happens,” Camden Bertucci said “I just need to work, and get ready to get back next year. I need to work with my team, work with my coaches, and just get back to next year.”
And in a sport where it is tough to be a parent, Jeff Bertucci just had to be there to support a son who has been through so much this year.
“We know he has the abilities, so we know he is struggling mentally,” Jeff Bertucci said. “This happens, it stinks, but he'll learn from it, grow and come back next year.”
The important thing is, Camden Bertucci says he has learned a lot about himself in this tumultuous year.
“What I learned this year, is you can't keep everything bottled up,” he said. “I learned how to talk to people, and put it out there. Talk to people and ask them to help me, because I've never really asked for people's help before. Now I do because of this.
“I have made a ton of progress this year towards my goals in the future,” he added. “This year has been hard, but in the end it will be better for me. This will help me finish out my senior year with a hard good year.”
Become a Grappler Gold member and get access to premium Grappler articles and videos. Now only $12.99/month!